Skipper Sunil Chhetri's Indian football team slumped six places to be ranked 103 with 1219 points in the FIFA rankings released Thursday.

India had regained its place in the top-100 in March last year (Indian Football Team Twitter)

HIGHLIGHTS

India slumped six places to be ranked 103 with 1219 points in the FIFA rankings

India also dropped out of the top 16 in the AFC rankings, plummeting to 18th

India had crashed out of the Asian Cup after losing to UAE and Bahrain

The Indian football team Thursday slipped out of the top 100 in the latest FIFA rankings following their back to back group league defeats during the AFC Asian Cup in the UAE.

Skipper Sunil Chhetri and Co. slumped six places to be ranked 103 with 1219 points in the FIFA rankings released Thursday.

India also dropped out of the top 16 in the AFC rankings, plummeting to 18th.

India had crashed out of the Asian Cup after losing to UAE and Bahrain, despite thrashing Thailand 4-1 in their opening group to make a good start to their campaign.

Following India's exit, Stephen Constantine stepped down from his role as India chief coach.

The country will now need to play friendlies in March against higher-ranked countries to improve its ranking ahead of the draw of the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, which is likely to be held in April.

India had regained its place in the top-100 in March last year, after breaking the top 100 bracket for the first time in 21 years in 2017.

India best ranking is the 94th place attained in February 1996.

Meanwhile, Qatar have moved up to 55th in the FIFA world rankings, their best position in 26 years, after their breakthrough Asian Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates last week.

The 2022 World Cup hosts' remarkable run at the continental championship, where they won all seven games and conceded only one goal, allowed them to move up 38 places from 93rd in the world.

Qatar beat regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia, Iraq and South Korea on their way to the final, where they stunned four-times champions Japan 3-1.

Belgium continue to lead the world rankings ahead of last year’s World Cup winners France and Brazil, with no changes to the top 20 due to the lack of fixtures involving teams from the European and South American confederations.